1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to apparel and clothing, and more particularly to articles of apparel fastened together to prevent separation thereof during washing, storage, drying and the like.
2. Background Information
There are many times when articles of clothing need to be attached together. For instance, one might want to attach together a pair of socks after wearing them, then when the wearer tosses the socks into the laundry, the socks are washed and dried together and the socks come out of the dryer already mated. This would be a great savings of time and effort to a person doing laundry.
Other examples of instances when a person might wish articles of clothing to be paired together would include children's clothing. For instance, children frequently loose their gloves and mittens, an annoying problem for many parents. These parents would benefit from using a means for fastening the gloves or mittens to the article of outerwear the child would be wearing so that the gloves or mittens would not become misplaced or lost.
There are many devices for connecting articles of clothing together. The first is U.S. Pat. No. 3,699,617 to Hofmeister, showing a connecting device for articles of clothing. A disadvantage of the Hofmeister device is the bulky connector on the socks as worn. A simple, easy to use, small and discrete device of attachment is needed.
Another device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,058,853, to Boxer et al. The Boxer device shows socks with flexible, self-contained fastener patches. However, the Boxer device would not be aesthetically pleasing in that the fasteners would be observable by others when being worn.
Another device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,038,413 to Ursino. The Ursino device is a sock fastening means, comprising a male snap on one sock and a female snap located on another sock. The Ursino device further has covers which snap on to protect the snaps when worn. A disadvantage of such device is that it is observable when worn.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,579,541 to Christy et al. shows sock tabs. Christy sock tabs comprise Velcro.RTM.-style attachments for attaching pairs of socks together when not worn. However, the Christy device would also be easily visible to others when being worn.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,740,558 to Messman shows a means for attaching articles of clothing together. Messman's device comprises tabs which are sewn into the clothing articles, the tabs having snaps which allow the clothing items to be snapped together. However, the Messman device does not show the attachment means located on the outer side of the leg of each sock.
What is needed is an attachment means for attaching articles of clothing together which has plural fastening means on each article allowing the articles to be either attached together or allowing the individual articles to be folded and fastened upon itself, thereby covering the fasteners. The preferred embodiment of the present invention solves these needs.
Additional objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description as follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.